Fujifilm acquires TeraMedica, Inc. to expand its healthcare, IT business

FUJIFILM Corporation has announced that it completed the acquisition, through the U.S. sales subsidiary FUJIFILM Medical Systems U.S.A., Inc., of the U.S. medical IT software company TeraMedica, Inc.
TeraMedica offers archive solutions for managing and storing a range of digitized in-hospital clinical information images of Picture Archiving Communication System (PACS).
In recent years, clinical departments at hospitals have used their own independent applications for managing a range of clinical information, including diagnostic information taken with CT, MRI, etc., and movie image files captured during endoscopic examination, surgery, etc.
There has been a rising demand to have a centralized system for such clinical information to be viewable for each patient in unified manner.
There is also a need for a system that centrally manages clinical information of multiple hospitals, manages and stores such information and administers the data under unified rules to build an effective regional health information network.
In response to these needs, the archive system known as "Vendor Neutral Archive" (hereafter "VNA")" is attracting attention and spreading mainly in Europe and the U.S.
This is a system that can manage a comprehensive range of clinical information in an integrated manner, including diagnostic images stored in various vendors' PACS and in each system to the clinical departments.
TeraMedica, was established in 2001 and developed VNA with the cooperation of the Mayo Clinic, one of the best hospital is the U.S. using some of the top medical systems in the world.
The company began marketing VNA in the U.S. in 2003, and has since led the market. For its outstanding system design and expandability, TeraMedica's VNA earned "2014 Best in KLAS awards" approximately 200 hospitals in the U.S., including the Mayo Clinic and over 300 medical institutes around the globe.
Fujifilm has been promoting the introduction of VNA since 2013, when it signed a distribution partnership with TeraMedica in the U.S. By acquiring the company, Fujifilm plans to accelerate the introduction of VNA, which is capable of centrally managing a wide range of digitized in-hospital clinical information.
One of Fujifilm's primary goals is to build a system that can facilitate the coordination of clinical information between hospitals.
This is the company's bid in further promoting regional medical cooperation.
Fujifilm's medical information systems business is built around the "SYNAPSE" PACS, and offers a wide range of non-radiology information systems, including the cardiovascular imaging system "SYNAPSE CardioVascular," the endoscopy and ultrasound information management system "NEXUS," and biological information system "Prescient."
Fujifilm will combine TeraMedica's VNA with its array of information systems to offer solutions that contribute to medical diagnosis at a greater efficiency than ever before, while actively promoting its global deployment.
Fujifilm will continue to develop and provide a wide range of products and services that promote the use of massive clinical information, and to address various needs of healthcare workers on the medical frontline.
This is part of the company's effort to streamline medical diagnosis, improve the quality of medical care, and help maintain and promote public health.